Michael Miroslav Slama

SLAMA, Michael Miroslav Died November 30, 2008 from complications of old age. He was born August 3, 1917 in Trebic, Moravia in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1936 he entered law school at Charles University in Prague and played on the university's hockey team, which won the international championship of university teams in February 1939. During World War II, he joined CLTK, one of the two best hockey teams in Czechoslovakia. Originally a forward, he began to play defense. Afer the war, he completed his doctorate in law. In 1947 he was selected for the national all-star team, which became the first Czech team to win the world hockey championship. In 1948 he competed in the Winter Olympics at St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Czechs tied with the Canadians for first place; however, because the Canadians had a better goal average, they were awarded the gold, Czechs the silver. According to one Prague newspaper, "Mlada fronta," he was "our best defenseman, [a] reserved, proper, and tenacious fighter." He was known, too, for his speed, agility, and strategic playing and was a commanding player in spite of his small build. He was dubbed an "amphibian" because he was an exceptional defenseman and a consistent scorer.
After the Communist coup, he defected in December 1948, at Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. He stayed in Switzerland five years, playing and coaching hockey. In 1953 he immigrated to the U.S. and earned a Masters in Library Science from Denver University. In 1966, he became the first library administrator of Moorpark Junior College, retiring in 1980. He is survived by his wife Betty of fifty-four years, his three daughters, Jane Slama Mackenzie, Judy de Paris, and Ann Slama Caswell, his three grandchildren, Rachel Reid, Henna and Kyle Raja, and two great-grandchildren, Kaelob and Zoe Reid. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2008 at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, 588 Camino Manzanas, Thousand Oaks, California.